The increasing use of body-worn and dash-mounted police cameras in Western North Carolina has sparked privacy concerns from citizens and cost concerns from local governments struggling to equip officers with the devices.

School systems in Western North Carolina were hoping a proposed piece of legislation regarding class size requirements would make it through the General Assembly this session to take some pressure off their 2017-18 budgets, but now it seems unlikely the bill will pass.

Many rural Americans who voted for Donald Trump last November did so based on his promise to cut the federal deficit and rein in spending. When he announced his preliminary budget proposal March 16, however, Democrats and Republicans alike were shocked at the extent of proposed cuts to programs that serve some of the nation’s poorest rural communities.

Women have a lot of internal dialogue when considering a run for public office — I don’t have time. I have a full-time job and a family to take care of at home. I don’t know enough about the issues. I don’t have the name recognition. I don’t have a college degree. Who would vote for me? I’m a woman.

By all accounts, the craft beer business continues to boom in Western North Carolina.

And that’s not just in Asheville with its dozens of breweries and brewpubs. Head west on Interstate 40 and merge onto the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway. You’ll soon come across numerous breweries from Canton to Bryson City, Highlands to Murphy, and seemingly everywhere in between.

Waynesville, Sylva and Franklin’s main commercial thoroughfares are getting a makeover in the coming years that could reshape the fabric of these communities for decades to come. The North Carolina Department of Transportation has plans to change the five-lane drags into boulevards to improve safety and ease congestion.

Reading Room

Time for spring-cleaning. The basement apartment in which I live could use a deep cleaning: dusting, washing, vacuuming. It’s tidy enough — chaos and I were never friends — but stacks of papers need sorting, bookcases beg to see their occupants removed and the shelves…